Weekly Note: Data Points from Wednesday Event / Chamber Music Saturday!

Thank you to everyone who came to “Poverty, Homelessness and the Compassion of Christ” on Wednesday. A special thanks to Yohaan for organizing the event and sharing his poetry with us and to Lindsay and Margot for preparing such a delicious meal.

We discussed driving forces of houselessness in our area and what organizations like Central City Concern [CCC] and Community Alliance of Tenants [CAT] are doing to help. I’ll include a few helpful statistics and ways to take action that were shared below.

This Saturday is the Portland Chamber Music Concert! Thank you Bill Habel for bringing their musical gifts to our community for a second year. The event is free, but we are encouraging people to bring cans of food for the Woodstock Pantry as admission. (Doors open at 6:30/ Concert at 7pm)

As we continue in the last weeks of Eastertide, we’ll also honor mothers in our service this Sunday with a special prayer and hymn and with a discussion of biblical mothers in our Children’s formation time. Our Outreach Coordinator, Kristen, will be at the 11am Coffee Hour to discuss summer volunteer opportunities in our Outreach Ministries.

In peace,

Andria+

The Facts About Homelessness

Shared by Central City Concern

• Total HUD homeless population increased by
  30.2% since 2019.

• In every survey of people experiencing homelessness in the Portland area, the vast majority say they do not want to be living on the streets.

• A 2021 study estimates that 53% of people living in homeless shelters and 40% of unsheltered people were employed, either full or part-time.

• People experiencing homelessness are overwhelmingly victimsof crime, not perpetrators.

• People who are living in camps do have trash, like everyone else, but the amount of trash they produce is not more than housed neighbors - it's just more visible and doesn't get picked up every week! Housed people also often dump trash at houseless camps.

• Substance use can be a factor in homelessness, but often, substance use disorders arise after people lose their housing.
  

How to Take Action

• Pay attention to candidates' stances on homelessness and vote in every election if you can.

• Create and distribute hygiene kits. [Grab some from or make some for the Outreach Center at All Saints!]

• Try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and be compassionate toward unhoused neighbors. Homelessness can happen to anyone.

• Volunteer for organizations like Blanchet House, Operation Nightwatch or Outside In. [Or Hot Meals and Woodstock Pantry at All Saints -- we need summer volunteers]

• Give to Central City Concern at centralcityconcern.org/donate or one of the many nonprofits making a difference in our community.